Browsing CategoryAmazon, Whole Foods, Bookstore and #Resistance

The e-commerce giant is the subject of a number of myths regarding its size and clout that mask the reality of its position compared with rivals like Wal-Mart Stores Inc and Costco Wholesale Corp – according to Charlie O’Shea, Moody’s vice president and lead retail analyst…

Estimates for the Amazon Prime membership base are also wildly inflated, O’Shea said, with some pundits betting the figure is as high as 85 million. Amazon itself has never provided a number, other than to say it is in the tens of millions.

Many companies use tax havens, or impossible but true tax arbitrage schemes to underpay taxes to the country where it should be owed. What sets Amazon apart is that their whole business model is built around using tax avoidance as a way to help make their prices among the cheapest online.

Let’s do the forensics on two different political and taxing systems with two wildly different outcomes. It’s a Rashomon of the same tax event but seen by two different authorities. The UK/EU v United States…

Amazon’s net unearned revenue was negative for the first time since Q4 2013. Yet, pundits that be punditing have been silent on the negative net unearned revenue in this quarter. Let’s do some forensics…

The capitalist paradigm in which companies think only about themselves, seeking to increase productivity and reduce costs, is going to work decreasingly well. Replacing well-paid workers with robots means replacing customers with a lot of money with customers with little money. People who are not paid much do not buy much. Robots buy even less.

Amazon is relentless. That is admirable, until it’s not. A bridge gets crossed and the relentless troops storm the other side, which, as it happens, we are all on. Tyrannies always turn inwards, Caesars will come home to roost.

…Amazon’s annual sales will be just a bit less than 10 percent of GDP. Since much of GDP involves areas like health care, rent, and education, areas in which Amazon does not currently have a presence, it would have to be an incredibly dominant actor in the segments of the market where it does operate.

Who is hunting down the brick and mortar retailers and snuffing them. And, the killing fields are growing, from 2014-2016, 12,000 stores closed. Detectives estimates that from now to 2019 the killer will strike 30,000 more times.

What if you knew who did it? Would you tell? What if your best friend was the culprit, or your spouse or child, would you tell? Or, would you not? This is not only someone you love, but they also give you huge discounts on everything! Whatever you want, you tell them and within 48 hours it’s on your doorstep

The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union has joined the #resistance against Amazon acquisition of Whole Foods.
“No employment decreases are arranged because of the arrangement,” a delegate said when Amazon disclosed the news – Amazon rebuts preemptive strikes

I went to the Amazon Bookstore today on an errand to audit its well-being. I am wary of any store that has a greeter. I think they said ‘can I help you find a book today.’ It could have been that, I disregard panhandlers in the trains and in bookstores. I’m not new to books and stores, this isn’t my first rodeo.
Amazon Bookstore is a confectionary selling books (incidentally I give cotton candy a 2.3 score)

Rep. David Cicilline wrote in his letter requesting hearings: (the deal) “raises important questions concerning competition policy, such as how the transaction will affect the future of retail grocery stores, whether platform dominance impedes innovation, and if the antitrust laws are working effectively to ensure economic opportunity, choice, and low prices for American families.”
and (the deal might) “increase Amazon’s online dominance, enabling it to prioritize its products and services over competitors.”

Pundits be punditing that Amazon is an innovative good guy, an avatar of economic progress, yet eliminating the need to investigate whether they actually are. They are in a heroic battle against backward laws, regulations and industry. The consistent messaging is resistance to Amazon’s growth is from the misguided or the nostalgic or corrupted regulators and politicians who want to halt innovations.

Amazon aquires WholeFeeds, 91,000 employees and this is their press release, lets read it together and do its forensics… “Amazon has no plans to use the technology it developed for Amazon Go to automate the jobs of cashiers at Whole Foods. No job reductions are planned as a result of the deal.” – Amazon Spokesperson